Sometimes I need the warm food cuddle of American classics like a cheeseburger and fries at the Ralph Lauren Café on the Boulevard Saint-Germain. This time, to my surprise, they brought out a dome of caramel-covered popcorn with the check, and a new craving was born.
I’ve put together a list of some of my other favorite and surprising food discoveries in Paris for you to enjoy.
Cinnamon Roll and Chocolate Hazelnut Cookie at Fringe
A friend introduced me to the cinnamon roll at Fringe, an artistic café that showcases photography, and I have been grateful ever since. The roll is a small bundle of heaven on a rainy morning, and I ask for it warmed up, which the barista always does without protest. If I swing by in the afternoon though, I am more likely to select the freshly baked chocolate chip cookies studded with whole hazelnuts.
I request those to be warmed up too because a chocolate chip cookie is only fully actualized when chocolate melts out of it.
Fringe
106 Rue de Turenne
75003 Paris
Pancakes at Papilles Coffeehouse and Restaurant
I am always on the quest for pancakes, and they have been popping up in different coffee shops across Paris. My favorites, so far, after taste testing a handful of spots, are the pancakes at Papilles. The savory option arrives as a stack of three topped with thick laminated strips of bacon and eggs (I order mine brouillés / scrambled instead of sunny-side-up). Each mouthful is exquisite with a drizzling of syrup. I thought I detected fleur d’oranger in the batter, but the server told me fermented milk gives the enhanced flavor.
The added bonus of Papilles is that breakfast is served all day.
Papilles Coffeehouse and Restaurant
77 Rue de Rochechouart
75009 Paris
Shrimp Pad Thai at Pad Thaï
I am always skeptical when a restaurant has the same name as what it specializes in, especially when it is the crowd favorite: pad thai. This tiny eatery in the 11th arrondissement has the most perfectly aromatic, slippery, tangy, sweet, spicy version of it I have ever tried, with a garnish of chili sugar on top. I asked for no egg on the pad thai that day, and I could hear the chef scream from behind a door when the server told him, “What is she a vegan??!”
I certainly am not. But all was forgiven with that first bite.
Pad Thaï
57 Rue de la Fontaine au Roi
75011 Paris
Pork Banh Mi at Gramme Café
This weekend, Gramme Café in the Marais celebrated its first-year birthday. Gramme was a happy discovery for me a few weeks ago when I headed over for lunch and spotted Banh Mi on the menu, served on a fresh brioche bun filled with shredded pork and topped with pickled red cabbage, carrots, and cilantro. Sometimes, I’ll grab a slice of one of their rotating homemade cakes to-go. My favorite, so far, is the coconut cake with dark chocolate frosting.
Gramme Paris
86 Rue des Archives
75003 Paris
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